"I found in myself, and still find, an instinct toward a higher, or, as it is named, spiritual life, as do most men, and another toward a primitive rank and savage one, and I reverence them both. I love the wild not less than the good." -Henry David Thoreau, Walden

It might look like a drab bird--and it is. Guide books describe it as "mousy"--and it is. But it is a master at capturing and devouring flying insects. Its drab palette acts as camouflage against the grass, the trees, the sky. Spotted Flycatchers have a vast range but all of them migrate to and winter in sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a bird that is not at all threatened, how refreshing. Almost 8 million pairs exist.